Presently, angiographic x-ray systems are equipped with an automated collision protection function to avoid collisions of the various hardware components of the system with each other and, more importantly, with the patient. However, in some cases where the collision situation is not obvious to a system operator, collision events can still occur since the operator is allowed to override the warning until a physical collision occurs. One type of collision event that occurs with a fairly high degree of regularity is collisions of the tube underneath the patient table. These collisions occur fairly frequently because this area is not visible to the operator.
To resolve a collision event in present day angiographic x-ray systems, an override function is required to be activated by the operator. This is a necessary precaution because all motorized movements are blocked when a physical collision is detected. In those cases where an override is activated, the system allows the operator to move the system components in a very slow mode to resolve the collision event. In many cases the collision event is not obvious (e.g. the tube underneath the patient table) and it takes a significant amount of time and experience to move the system out of the collision situation. This is particularly true where a given position may be apparently reached with more than one set of axes motions but where motion limits on one or more axes produces a “dead end” requiring a time consuming backtracking in order to reach the desired position. In some cases, the patient must be removed from the system to avoid injury to quickly resolve a potentially dangerous and harmful situation.
From the foregoing it will be understood that there is a need for providing a collision detection system and method to maintain operational safety while providing the system operator with means for quickly and easily resolving a collision state.